City commissioner is properly registered to vote

Embattled San Diego Redistricting Commission vice chairman Carlos Marquez will remain on the panel that is redrawing the city's political boundaries following population shifts documented by the 2010 U.S. Census.

Registrar of Voters Deborah Seiler said Wednesday Marquez is properly registered to vote in San Diego, a requirement for service. His residency had been in question in recent weeks.

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Marquez's service was challenged last month by the San Diego County Republican Party, which had a private investigator secretly follow Marquez to Los Angeles, where he works, to determine if he was living in that city.

The seven-member redistricting commission referred the matter to City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, who said Marquez told his investigators he considers San Diego his home.

At the time, Goldsmith said only the registrar of voters could determine whether Marquez was properly registered as a San Diego voter -- a requirement to serve on the commission. Goldsmith released Seiler's response to him Wednesday.

It said: "As you correctly note in your memorandum of law, courts give great weight to the voter's intent when determining their domicile and there is no apparent reason not to extend this same consideration to Mr. Marquez."

Not long after the registrar's ruling went public, Tony Krvaric, chairman of the county GOP, said on Twitter his challenge would continue in court, writing: "How will #SDRC commish #Marquez + friends hold up under Oath? #oneyearleaseinla #cashmonthtomonthinsd"